Havas expands data expertise with acquisition of Unnest

Havas has expanded its data and technology footprint with the acquisition of Unnest, a French consulting and engineering firm established in 2021 with a focus on designing, building and deploying enterprise data platforms. The move, announced this week, deepens the network’s long-running attempt to hardwire data engineering, cloud infrastructure and AI-driven decisioning into its global operations through its Converged.AI framework.

Unnest, founded by Nicolas Chollet and Mehdi Moreau, has spent the past four years building specialist capabilities across Google Cloud Platform, Azure, Snowflake and Amazon Cloud, alongside a growing practice in AI. The company has earned a roster of clients in retail, travel, beauty, automotive and luxury, which Havas sees as a strategic fit with its Business Science practice. The acquisition will bring together Unnest’s engineers with CSA Data Consulting, DBi and TED Consulting, creating a combined team of 120 data specialists in France, with the intention of deploying solutions across the broader Havas network.

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO, Havas, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Nicolas Chollet, Mehdi Moreau, and the entire Unnest team to the Havas family. Their technological expertise will be a valuable addition to the acceleration of our Converged.AI strategy. They will help drive the adoption of AI solutions across our client base, addressing strategic and operational challenges while maintaining the highest standards of excellence." His comments underline the company’s emphasis on scaling AI-enabled marketing tools at a time when global client expectations around automation and analytics are rising sharply.

Chollet positioned the acquisition as a route to faster expansion. “In a rapidly growing data and AI landscape, joining Havas represents a unique opportunity to accelerate our growth and leverage our technological expertise in support of a global vision. We are eager to contribute to the creation of innovative solutions for brands,” he said. Unnest will retain what Havas calls its “agility and technological DNA” while gaining access to the holding company’s commercial partnerships and global client base.

Yoann Denée, chief data officer of Havas France and president of Havas Data Business Intelligence, said the expanded Business Science ecosystem would help the company “deliver increasingly advanced tech solutions and to address the growing challenges our clients face in transforming their businesses through data, AI, and automation.” His remarks reflect market conditions in which holding companies are competing to differentiate themselves through proprietary data infrastructure rather than media scale alone.

The announcement also contextualises Havas’ multi-year investment strategy. Speaking at the company’s annual presentation during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year, Bolloré had argued that AI is reshaping not just workflows but leadership norms within major advertising groups. The company has reiterated its €400 million allocation over four years for technology, data and AI—an investment plan first disclosed at Cannes in 2023. Bolloré also stated that Havas would “stick to its plan of investing €100 million in tech every year and will fully train its 23,000 people worldwide.”

This commitment sits behind Converged.AI, the upgraded version of its earlier Converged initiative, now positioned as the operating backbone connecting talent, tools and services within the network. The product suite is designed to be platform-agnostic, enabling integration across international ecosystems such as Google and Meta, as well as regional networks like TF1 and ITV. Its components include Converged Activate, which uses large language models to build privacy-compliant audiences; Converged Measure, which deploys machine learning to address attribution gaps; and Converged Agentic Reporting, which offers real-time dashboards powered by code-executing agents responding to natural-language queries. Converged AI Designer applies predictive planning to performance and analytics data, and Converged Content extends Adobe-supported content personalisation at scale.

Against this backdrop, the Unnest purchase signals Havas’ ongoing attempt to move deeper into data engineering, not just data interpretation. The deal reinforces a trend across global holding companies: the shift from media-buying networks to technology-centred entities expected to solve broader transformation issues for brands. As the company folds Unnest into its structure, the test will be whether engineering depth translates into commercially meaningful differentiation in an increasingly AI-standardised marketplace.